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Suspect in Multiple Armed Robberies Arrested

This is a release from the Eureka Police Department. The information has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:

The Eureka Police Department has been investigating a string of robberies which have been occurring at various businesses throughout the County of Humboldt. The robberies began late in the evening on November 3rd, 2016, with the most recent occurring on November 18th, 2016. In all of these robberies, the suspect’s general description, method of operation, and weapons used appeared to be similar.

Through the course of an extensive investigation, detectives of the Eureka Police Department developed a suspect and identified a possible involved vehicle. The suspect was identified as Christian James Shepard (26 Years old of Rio Dell). Shepard was discovered to be on probation out of Sacramento County and had an active warrant for his arrest out of Sacramento County for probation violation.

A countywide attempt to locate was issued for Shepard to all Humboldt County Law Enforcement agencies.

On November 19th, 2016, Rio Dell Police Officers observed Shepard and his vehicle. Officers attempted a traffic enforcement stop on him. Shepard fled and a vehicle pursuit ensued. Shepard led Officers onto Monument Road, but due to the high speeds and reckless driving of Shepard, officers discontinued the pursuit.

In the early morning hours of November 20th, 2016, it was determined that Shepard may have run off the road shortly after the pursuit was terminated, the prior evening, and had spent the night in the woods. Deputies of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and officers of the Rio Dell Police Department responded to the area and located Shepard and his vehicle traveling on Monument Road, back towards Rio Dell. Shepard was taken into custody without further incident. Shepard was soon transported to Redwood Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released for possible hypothermia.

Detectives of the Eureka Police Department responded and took over the investigation. Shepard’s vehicle was seized and towed from the scene. A later search of the vehicle was conducted, pursuant to a search warrant.

As a result of the search, clothing items, masks, and weapons consistent with those used in the string of robberies were seized as evidence.

Shepard was soon booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on ten (10) counts of robbery, felon in possession of a firearm, negligent discharge of a weapon, terrorist threats, and for the Sacramento County probation warrant. Shepard does not qualify for bail due to the Sacramento County Arrest Warrant being a “no bail” warrant.

There are no photographs being released of Shepard at this time, due to investigative steps that still need to be completed.

The Eureka Police Department would like to thank all Humboldt County allied agencies, especially the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department and the Rio Dell Police Department, for their assistance in this investigation. If not for their help, this dangerous criminal may not have been taken into custody.

This is an open investigation and anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact Senior Detective Ron Harpham at (707) 441-4300.

Here is a list of armed robberies that occurred this month: (Note: Where a public description of a robber exists in the ones posted below, the suspect is mostly described as a tall, thin, white male. Note: There was an arrest in the Cher-Ae Heights robbery so we have removed it from the list.)

Life in prison with Bubba. What an idiot. May receive several life sentences and rightly so. His luck ran out but very lucky to be alive. One wrong business owner and would have gotten the lead he deserved for scaring the jibees out of innocent citizens.

I’m pretty sure he is the suspect in that also. Capt. Watson of EPD tweeted that he was the suspect in 10 robberies between the third and the 18th. I only know of only 10 that occurred including Cher-Ae Heights (there was another suspect arrested for that one.) So, yes, pretty likely.

Ya because there’s literally no room on our jail since the state transferred all those state prisoners to do their time at our local facility.
And let’s remember they’re still investigating, crimes that get media attention and public interest often lead to police arresting the wrong person as they need to assure the public by just getting someone in jail for said crime. Am glad to see no pic, that whole show everyone’s mug shot was one of the main reasons LOCO was made, to attempt to shame the folks arrested for pot by publicly show in their mug shots. It’s become too normal, you never see their pic and artice again if they don’t end up being charged with the crime.

I hope this is the guy&that justice will be served, just saying I know people whose name was dragged thru the mud after being arrested for a crime they had nothing to do with. Had the same type of car as suspect.

Wow! Stepped away for a minute, watching AMA’s…glad this piece of shit is under wraps. Scared the shit out of countless, helpless clerks. Can you even imagine having a gun in your face? Heroin? Wtf??? No excuse, just wondering the motivation for such outrageous behavior.

Good work done here by local agencies. I bet this is another one of those stories that is linked to pharmaceutical drug use. I am also willing to bet that his Oxy habit got too costly and he had to resort to street drugs like heroin to get a similar type of high. It sucks that this guy probably has a family that is suffering as well right now trying to figure out how he got so screwed up so fast and why he had to resort to this crime spree. Prison is not going to do this guy any good. He is lost to the world and his family. Thank god nobody was injured and hopefully he can get some sort of help.

Yeah, get help in prison, away from the community he terrorized, stole from and endangered lives. Petty theft and ripping off your friends for drug money is bad enough. This is a whole different level. I’m really tired of the drug addiction excuse. What if it wasn’t a drug addiction? What should the punishment be? What would your attitude be about this situation? These people need to be removed from society to keep us safe.

Not a very smart criminal hitting all those places for minimal return. Everybody local knows all you need is to rob the right grower and get a very healthy payout. And that grower robbery may not even get reported. Im amazed when these guys knock off gas stations for a few hundred when there are people clumsily storing thousands of dollars all around these parts!

It’s a wonder that people who do these types of crimes commit them over and over, like they wanna get caught. Maybe he is a drug or adrenaline addict. And/or some ‘power’ issue. It’s like a drug addict though, how they keep pushing that edge until they either die or ‘hit bottom’. Yes I know. Keith Richards is an exception. 😉

Well, the link (which is public) shows he went to East High, went/goes to CR, and has a baby momma who works in Sac. This could be a coincidence, but it is pertinent to our community. The numerous witnesses and victims who have still not been interviewed, should have access to conversation on a news forum. You make money by telling stories about us. As a supposed journalist, you unfortunately feel an entitlement to censor us as well. How ironic. There is no problem showing an aerial photo of 100 acres of hoopers for a 1/2 acre fire (which was already extinguished). You provided no follow-up details about the August fire, but had no problem leaving backyards in the pics. Yes, one of those properties endured a robbery 2 months later. It probably had nothing to do with your. Probably. When you invade our privacy and we tell you to stop, it is your right to expose. When we try to expose and “get to the bottom” (in the comment section mind you), you censor. I appreciate your website, question your ethics, and will allways call bullshit. BV115H1+

Jesus, sometimes I question why I do this….. Anonymous folks get to “question my ethics” when I remove a link because I am concerned that it may unfairly target an innocent person. When it would be to my advantage to gain clicks by leaving it up. But you go right ahead and feel morally superior while appreciating my website.

(And I’ve explained multiple times why I posted that image of a fire which was sent out by Cal Fire and posted by multiple media sites.)

Cry me a freakin river. You chose your line of work. If you can’t take criticism, you obviously do not understand the relationship between the public and the press. Maybe you need a safe space. Don’t go to the drying shed, as they are not safe. You recommended that thieves rob drying sheds. You also touted that smart criminals do this. Well time after time, it is proven that thieves are stupid and usually motivated by addiction. I find it mentally ill to prioritize the privacy of an armed, violent, druggie, cowardly, criminal.